BBC Two and BBC Music announces Mariah meets Rylan

19 November 2024 - Press release

 

All we want for Christmas is Mariah Meets Rylan (1 x 55”) a world exclusive special for BBC Two and BBC iPlayer in December.

Filmed on location in Los Angeles, the multi-platinum record selling, Grammy Award-winning artist Mariah Carey meets Rylan for the first time. Rylan will be quizzing Mariah about life, music, and of course, the festive season as her classic hit All I Want For Christmas Is You celebrates its 30^th anniversary. 

During her extensive interview with Rylan, Mariah discusses how she came up with the melody for her smash hit Hero, the jobs she had before she was famous, her multiple appearances on Top of the Pops and her love for the show, her inspirations – including Stevie Wonder, Aretha Franklin, Whitney Houston and George Michael, working with Jackie Chan and Westlife and her reflections on this year being the 30^th anniversary of her single, All I Want For Christmas Is You and album, Merry Christmas. Plus, Rylan puts Mariah’s English accent to the test and pretends to audition her to be in the BBC’s leading continuing drama, EastEnders.

BBC Two will also celebrate Mariah with an evening of programming that night, including a newly extended edition of Mariah Carey at the BBC.

Rylan, who presents a weekly Saturday afternoon show on BBC Radio 2 and BBC Sounds (3-6pm) says: “All my Christmases came at once this year when I got to sit down and interview none other than the Queen of Christmas! They say don’t meet your heroes, but Mariah was everything and more. I can’t wait for you all to see it.”

Jonathan Rothery, Head of Popular Music TV, BBC, says: “Following the success of Cher Meets Rylan in December 2023, it’s a pleasure to be able to bring viewers another fantastically entertaining hour of Rylan in conversation with another music icon – Mariah Carey, in celebration of 30 years since her Christmas hit was released.”

American singer, songwriter, producer and actress Mariah Carey shot to fame with her 1990 self-titled album, and has since released another fourteen studio albums. She is one of the best-selling artists in history, has five Grammy Awards to her name and was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2022. Among her many hits are Vision of Love, Hero, We Belong Together and of course, All I Want For Christmas Is You, which is the highest-selling single by a solo female artist in the UK and the most streamed Christmas song in the UK. The song topped the UK Singles Chart for the first time in 2020, 26 years after its release in 1994.

The programme will be on BBC iPlayer following transmission.

This world exclusive special follows in the footsteps of Cher Meets Rylan, Idris Elba Meets Paul McCartney, Elton John: Uncensored, which was presented by Graham Norton, Michael Bublé at the BBC, which was presented by Claudia Winkleman, Sam Smith at the BBC, which was hosted by Fearne Cotton and Adele at the BBC, which was fronted by Graham Norton.

Mariah Meets Rylan is a BBC Studios Music production. The Executive Producer is Alison Howe for BBC Studios. The programme was commissioned by Jonathan Rothery, Head of Popular Music TV, BBC. The Commissioning Editor for BBC Popular Music TV is Rachel Davies.